Cocha – The Necklace

In the INCAS culture, “Mama Cocha” was the deity who represented all that was feminine. She was also known as the Goddess of Water… the most fundamental element for our survival as a species.  Cocha is also the nickname of my hometown (short for “Cochabamba“) that will forever be part of my identity.

It is with my hometown and this particular Goddess in mind, and with the inspiration that came from an incredible aguayo-shoe design (manufactured by a shoe company called “INKKAS“), that today’s necklace was conceived.  And to complete the reveal I’m honored to have once again a real-life bolivian Goddess helping me bring context and bolivian beauty into its story.  If you saw our first necklace of this collection, then you know that these pieces are not only meant to be physically unique, beautiful and bold, but each comes impregnated with an “energy” of empowerment, that I hope to convey through short stories of the amazing bolivian women that  are part of each necklace reveal.

This is not the first time that Wendy Arteaga has given me the honor to be part of a VeruDesigns newsletter (click here to see our very first shoot with Wendy!). But today’s reveal is a very special one.

Life is never truly “perfect”, in the sense that everything  is “as good as it gets”.  And that is exactly how life is supposed to be. Without the unrest that comes with wanting “more or better”, life would be …done. So being able to live joyfully in the now, while staying EAGER and excited about the future is truly the key I believe.

My friend Wendy is in many ways an example of this outlook and way of life. But even a strong positive outlook can’t quite guarantee that we won’t ever face “powerful contrast” in life… challenges and difficulties bigger than we could ever imagine. And yet, somehow, in these exact situations is when we find out who we truly are, and for that reason alone these difficult situations bear also a gift.

It was early 2012 when these scary “incidents” began to happen.

It’s late at night, Wendy is deep asleep, when suddenly she is awaken by an inability to breath. Her heart is racing non-stop. She’s cold and shaking. It feels like her chest will explode any minute. She’s afraid. She sits up. Her husband tries to calm her down, but nothing changes. She is now in the emergency room, and hours later as the sun comes out and the new day begins, her heart somehow finally (and very slowly) relaxes again into a normal beat.

Doctors and nurses can’t find anything wrong. Endless tests are performed and everything comes out alright.  Everyone hopes this was a one-time anomaly.

But of course it wasn’t. 

The second time, fear took over her body faster than the air she needed.  Her heart is racing again, she can’t breath and it feels like she won’t make it.  Another night at the hospital unfolds. Another day begins with no answers.

Life must go on.

Wendy decides not to share these episodes with friends.  Why amplify the fear? Why give airtime to a subject that has only brought physical and emotional pain? 

But fear is part of her life now.  Because when you’re a mom, especially the mom of a little 4-year old girl, life suddenly matters too much. “Will I be there when she needs me… or when she gets sick?”, “Will my boys be alright without me?”. Keeping these thoughts and questions at bay gets harder with every new episode. And yet she knows that despite life feeling “grey” suddenly, she MUST believe that things can get better. She must have faith, she must bring COLOR into her spirit and attitude. Because if she doesn’t believe…who will believe for her?

A few months, and a few more incidents and new doctors come and go by. Still no answers.

She tries to keep her life as normal as possible.  She works full-time, she’s a mom to her 3 kids, she eats healthy and continues to play tennis when she can to stay active. Few know of her undiagnosed condition.

Then out of nowhere, an opportunity comes to represent Cochabamba in a tennis championship to be held in La Paz, the capital.  She thinks about it and decides to do it. “Why not?”. She senses that life is meant to be lived to the fullest more than ever before. If she can’t know what the future holds for her with certainty, then at least she’ll damn make sure to know what her PRESENT will be like!

She’s excited and flies to La Paz with the firm intention of having fun.  Her body isn’t as strong as it used to be but that’s not too important for having a good time. And then of course there is the altitude of La Paz. Her heart doesn’t appreciate that.  But something funny happens. With no expectations she somehow wins the first match 2-0. Then she wins the second match . . . and against all odds she finds herself on a Sunday morning in the FINALS. Nobody is more surprised than her, but also very excited. Her family is there. And she decides to do her best and just have… fun.

The final match begins and it’s not easy. “Just do your best” she says to herself.   Somehow the 13,323 feet of altitude have finally caught up with her body. Her heart feels it. The game goes on. She wins a point, she loses the next. But with every minute that goes by, her heart lets her know that it is not happy. It hurts a bit. It begins racing a bit too fast. “Is this normal….or is this IT again?”. There is no time to think about it. Every second counts and suddenly across the field she doesn’t see the other tennis player anymore. She sees something else. . . she sees the ILLNESS looking at her, right in the eyes and daring her to rebel against it. “You can’t win!” it says.

Wendy knew it didn’t make any sense logically, but her gut and all of her body kept telling her that this match was not about tennis. This was a match about her WILL. Her will to live, her will to FEEL how she wants to feel. About her faith, about her BELIEF. Belief and trust that she is stronger than any coward-nameless heart illness.  If there was ever a time to SHINE, this very simple moment was it.

Suddenly, she felt “letting go” of the struggle and the fear to loose. She had come to have fun and she decided she WOULD have fun.

When the final winning point actually happened, it felt more like an ENORMOUS RELIEF, confirmation…  rather than a victory.

She did it.  She had fun,  she won, and she had a good time while doing it.

Strangely, even though her heart was still racing, somehow she knew that it was of the normal kind.  She knew she’d be ok.

It would be another 3 months of scary “episodes” that would come and go by. But despite the temporary fear and pain they brought with them, something had shifted inside her.  In her gut, she knew that she would be alright. She had to, and she would. This is when she finally came across an amazing man who happened to be a leading edge heart surgeon working in Chile. With no guarantees, she agreed to go through a 5-hour exploratory heart surgery.

The surgery itself could be described (in an over-simplified way) as a thorough “cleansing of the arteries” of the heart. Every artery was inspected by looking for “blockages” that could be causing the heart’s arrhythmia.  To the doctors surprise, they found more blockages than they had hoped, BUT(!) after 5 very long hours her heart was finally CLEAN.  Only after the surgery did Wendy find out that she was truly a high risk patient. She was lucky….and blessed. And she knew it.

It’s been a bit over a year since her surgery, and I’m thrilled to report that my friend Wendy is back to normal.  What is truly fabulous about all this however, is that those very difficult months didn’t damage my friend’s spirit in any way. To the contrary.  If you believe in the predominant wellbeing that abounds in the Universe, (as she and I do), then you believe that love is more powerful than illness. That fear is only a state of mind, and that at any moment we CAN “un-choose” it. And that no matter what happens…everything is always alright. Sometimes in our physical bodies and sometimes outside of it. And when it ISN’T our time, God, the Universe, our Soul, or whatever you want to call this non-physical energy of love….will support us a 1000%.

We so often look for inspiration in men and women that are in the cover of books or movies, and forget that every human being is a hero in its own life journey. I just feel so lucky to know such inspiring women as my beautiful friend Wendy.

If you or someone you love is going through a challenging time (big or small), I hope this little story reminds you of what you already know:

There is nothing we have to offer (to ourselves and to others) in a state of constant fear and worry. Sometimes “letting go” of fighting with actions guided mostly by our fears alone, is the most courageous thing we can do. Instead focusing inwards and choosing to trust our inner-strength (and the inner-strength of our loved one), and choosing to trust the wellbeing of life, is what allows us to receive the answers we’re looking for. Whatever you believe in . . . God, the cosmos, the human spirit, or simply in the human power of the mind, then let’s BET ON THAT! rather than our fears.
By no means am I saying that fear is wrong. Fear IS part of life. It’s a sign, a reminder of how much we want to live. But we can’t invest ALL of our energy and focus in it. Fear exists because it brings forth an acute (and neccesary!) awareness of what we DO want in life, of what matters. It helps bring clarity to our priorities that sometimes get blurred in the routines of every day life. But! it isn’t and can’t be the captain of our ship.

Thank you for allowing me to share this small part of my friend’s journey.  Her courage is yours. Her faith is yours. Her strength is yours and mine as well.  

ALWAYS.
And this necklace is simply meant to remind you of that.

To see more close-up pictures of the Cocha Necklace and/or (for a limited time only) buy this piece, just click on the image below!
We’re not done yet! There are still two more necklaces to come!  What do you think? I’d love to read your comments below .

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